Wind-instrument



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

L. OESTERLE. WIND INSTRUMENT.

Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

(N Model.) ZVSheets-Sheet 2. L. OESTERLE.

WIND INSTRUMENT.

No. 329,940. Patented NOV. 10, 1885.

................ L4.. 1.... ......,......I........ ....5117.1....[1.....-.15-11.1111 ..............1.... o f

Y reference being had therein to the accompany- I last key on one side.lIt is fastened to a ashaft, d, said shaft being secured at its op-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO LOUIS OESTERLE, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIND-INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 329,940, dated November10, 1885.

Application filed April 13, 1885. Serial No. 162,011. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs OEsTERLE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements infind-Instruments, of which the following is aspecifcation,

ing drawings.

My invention relates to certain improvements in wind-instruments.

The object of the invention is to improve the arrangement of means foroperating the different keys of the instrument; and to that end itconsists of certain novel devices and combination of devices, as will bedescribed and claimed.

Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures land 2 are views, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the keysand their operating mechanism; Figs. 8, 4, 5, and 6, differentcross-sections; Fig.7,a detail view of one style of key; Fig. 8, adetail of part of the operating mechanism; Fig. 9, a view showingcertain of the keys and their connections; Fig. 10, a continuation ofFig. 9; Figs. 11, 12, sections of Figs. 9, 10, respectively; and Figs.13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, details of parts.

Like letters refer to like parts in each View.

A represents the instrument to which the improvements are applied.

B represents one of the keys, it being the sleeve, a, mounted upon astationary shaft, b. Sleeve a is provided at one end with a crank-arm,c, in which is mounted one end of posite end to a crank-arm, e, of ashaft, f, to be referred to.

At the point shown in Fig. 1 there is secured to shaft d a key, C,situated directly above a key, D, with which it is adapted to contactwhen depressed.

Formed upon the side of the shank of key D is a projection, g, carryinga set-screw, h, larranged to contact with an offset, lc,when the key isdepressed,the offset being formed upon a sleeve, Z, securely fastened toa shaft, m.

Secured to sleeve Z is a key, E, thus arranged to be operated whenevercompound 4key C D is depressed, but which is free to be operatedindependently of such compound key.

Secured to shaft j', hereinbefore referred to, is an L-shaped arm, a, inthe long arm of which are mounted two set-screws,o p. Screw o is adaptedto contact with an offset, q, formed upon one end of a shaft, s, to theopposite end of which a sleeve, t, is secured. Screw p contacts with anoffset, o, formed upon one end of a sleeve, w, loosely mounted uponshaft s. A key, F, is secured to sleeve t, and akey, H,to sleeve w.

By the arrangement of parts as thus far described it will be seen thatwhenever the compound key C D is depressed the key B is operated throughthe medium of rod d, crankarm c, and sleeve c; keyE is operated throughthe medium of set-screw h and offset k,- key F through the medium of rodd, crank-arm c, shaft f, arm n, setscrew q, shaft s, and sleeve t,- andkey H is operated through the medium of shaft d, crank-arm e, shaft f,arm n, setscrew p, offset o, and sleeve w, arrangement being thus madefor the operation of fivekeys by the simple depression of one compoundkey.

As before mentioned,the arrangement of key E with respect to compoundkey C D is such that it may be operated independently of such compoundkey.

Formed with the sleeve w are two bearings,

x, for a short shaft, y. Keyed upon shaft gis akey, G, the shank ofwhich is provided with a rearward extension, a, suitably curved topartly surround the sleeve w. By this arrangenient, should key G bedepressed, extension a will contact with sleeve w, the bearings .rforced to describe the arc of a circle, sleeve w partly revolved, andkey H operated; but should the pressure be applied to key H there willbe sufficient play to the bearings to allow of such depression withoutoperating key G, the two keys being on different centers.

It will be understood that keys G H,when not operated upon,are heldelevated by aspring, b.

The key D, hereinbefore referred to, is secured to a sleeve, c', mountedloosely upon a shaft, mf. Formed upon sleeve c are two bearings, d', fora short shaft, e. Mounted upon shaft c is a key, K, and also an arm, f,which is curved to partly surround sleeve c, this arrangement of partsbeing substantially IOO similar to the arrangement described inconnection with keys G H, the only difference being that, instead offorming the shank of key K with a rearward extension similar to a of keyG, the arm f is provided, the result being the same, but thisarrangement being desirable in order to shorten elevating-spring g asmuch as possible. By this arrangement it will be seen that when key Kisdepressed key D is operated through the medium above described, and keyE through set-screw 7L and offset lc, three keys being thus operatedfrom one, while at the same time key D may be operated independently ofkey K.

Key P, to be hereinafter referred to, is operated by the fourth finger,and should it be on the same level as the keys operated by the otherfingers of the same hand its operation would be difficult, as themovement of that finger is not free. To obviate this difficulty I mount,upon the upper face of the key K, and a key, L, to be referred to, andbetween which two keys P is located, a knob, K', provided with asuitable socket, into which a screw, 7L', is inserted, as shown in Fig.7. These knobs are ou a slightly higher plane than the key P, and meansthus provided for the free working of said key P by the fourth finger.

L represents one of the keys loosely mounted upon the shaft b, beforereferred to. Formed upon the shank of key L is an arm, k', in which ismounted aset-screw, Z. Screw Z is adapted to contact with an offset, m,formed upon one end of the shaft m, to the opposite end of which sleeveZ is secured, the key E being mounted upon said sleeve, as beforementioned. By this arrangement it will be seen that key E may beoperated from key L, but at the same time is free to be operated bycompound key C D without affecting said key L. Situated directly abovekey F is a key, M, secured to a shaft, a, said shaft having bearings atone end in an arm, o', loosely mounted upon a shaft, p, upon theopposite end of which a crank-arm, q, is formed, to which reference willbe made. Shaft u at the pointshown is provided with an arm, bwhichprojects over a key, N, and in which is mounted a set-screw, s. Key N isfastened to the shaft p. At its Opposite end shaft a is secured to acrank-arm, f, formed upon one end of a sleeve, o', upon the opposite endof which a similar arm, w, is formed.

Mounted in crank-arm w is a shaft, x', which at its opposite end issecured to a crank-arm, y', formed with a sleeve, a2, to which a key, O,is secured. By this arrangement, when compound key F M is operated, thekey N is operated through the medium of shaft a', arm b?, and set-screws', while key O is also operated through the medium of shaft a',crank-arm t, sleeve c', arm w', shaft x', arm i and sleeve a2.

P represents a key secured to a sleeve, c2, loosely mounted upon shaftm. Secured to sleeve c2 is a crank-arm, d2, in the opposite end of whicha shaft, e2, is mounted, said shaft being secured at its opposite end tothe crankarm g', before referred to. At that end of shaft e2 where ithas bearing in crank-arm d2 it is provided with a tapered opening, f2,Fig. 8, into which a set-screw, g2, is inserted. By this arrangement ofparts,when key P is depressed, the keyN is operated through the mediumof sleeve c2, crank-arm d2, shaft el, crank-arm q', and shaft 19'; butwhen key N is operated shaft e2 is allowed sufficient play, because ofopening f', to avoid operating key P.

Q represents a thumb or first-finger key near the front end of theinstrument, secured to a sleeve, h2, loosely mounted upon shaft p', suchkey being entirely independent.

To provide means for operating key N from the opposite side of theinstrument, I provide the shank of such key with a tooth, k2, Fig. 3,with which a similar tooth, Z2, is adapted to contact, the latter beingformed upon the shank of a ngerlever, R, mounted upon a. short shaft,m2. (Shown in Figs. 9, 15.) The key H is provided with a tooth, n2, tocontact with a tooth, o2, formed upon a short shaft, p2, and to theopposite end of which a finger-lever, S, is secured.

T V represent two keys, the two first on their side of the instrument.Key T is mounted upon a shaft, g2, having bearings in suitable brackets,r2, and having at its opposite end an arm, s2. Arm s2 occupies aposition directly above au L-shaped arm, t2, secured to a shaft, v2,said shaft mounted at one end in one of the brackets r2. Secured toshaft o2 about midway its length is a fingerlever,\V, by depressingwhich key T is operated through the medium of shaft o2, L-shaped arm t2,arm s2, and shaft q2. Mounted upon shaft q2 is a sleeve` ur, to one endof which is secured key V. Secured to the opposite end of this sleeve isan arm, which occupies a position directly above the free end of anL-shaped arm, i 2, secured to a sleeve, a3, mounted upon shaft o2, andcarrying fingerlever x, the key V being thus operated by sleeve c3, armsif x2, and sleeve wz.

Finger-lever W was described as situated midway of shaft c2, and forconvenience in playing I secure to the end of said shaft au additionalfinger-lever,Y, from which keyT may be operated.

To obtain a similar convenience in operating key V, I employ afinger-lever, A', mounted upon a sleeve, b3, said sleeve being` providedat its opposite end with an L-shaped arm, c3, above the free end ofwhich an arm7 d, is located, said last-named arm being secured to thesleeve a3.

B B2 represent two keys mounted upon iudependent sleeves caf, to thelatter of which a fingerlever,C, is secured, by which arrangement eitherkey may be operated separately, while at the same time the position eflever C renders the working of the two at the same time easy.

Formed with offset q, before referred to, but upon the opposite sideofthe shafts, is a tooth, g, with which a similar tooth, h3, formed withIOO IIO

arm x2, is adapted to Contact, this arrangement serving to operate keyF, whenever key T is operated from its finger-lever. This arrangement isshown in Fig. 6.

What I claim is- 1. In a wind-instrument, the combination, with a keythereof, of a second key situated directly over the rst and arranged tocontact therewith, the two keys moving from the same center, as setforth.

2. In a wind-instrument, the combination, with a key mounted upon asleeve,with which are formed suitable bearings, of a second key securedupon a shaft mounted in said bearings, and a curved arm encircling thesleeve, as set forth.

3. In a Wind-instrument, the combination, with a key thereof, of a shaftprovided with a LOUIS OESTERLE.

Vitnesses:

M. J. GLAGETT, LoUIs NOLTING.

